Ork (Earthdawn)
The Orks are a playable race in the tabletop RPG Earthdawn. Description Orks have powerful builds averaging 6 feet, 3 inches in height and 225 pounds in weight. Large lower canines protrude over their upper lip and their body hair has a coarse texture, almost always colored black or gray. Some orks appear nearly hairless, and head hair usually grows in sparsely but with the thickness of fine wire. Common skin colors include olive green, beige, pinkish-white, tan, and ebony. Their ears are pointed, and about a quarter of the population show elongated ears. Natural life span for an ork averages 40 years, though some live 60 years or more. Orks reach their physical maturity in their early teens. Orks recognize only a loose concept of family, giving greatest loyalty to their tribe. Social organization within the tribe varies considerably, as orks often adopt social structures of the other races with whom they interact. Isolated tribes usually contain only two authority figures, however, the warchief and the shaman. Most ork tribes live as nomads and willingly inhabit any kind of dwelling. They live in tents when with their own tribes. The ork's reputation for violence grows from his passionate nature. You may say that your heart is full of love, or full of spite. When you say this, you are speaking poetry. When an ork says it, he means it. If you arouse an ork to desire or fury, they feel it in their hearty as intensely as other races would feel a fever in their head or poison in their gut. Orks call this sensation gahad. If an ork's gahad is awakened, expect them to act on their emotions. They can try to resist the gahad, but resisting sets their brain to boil and curdles their stomach. This is not a simple metaphor — it hurts when an ork resists his gahad. Orks believe that such resistance shortens life — an able-bodied ork who suddenly drops dead at forty is said to have swallowed his gahad one time too many. Racial abilities The racial abilities of an Ork are as follows: *Low-Light Vision Low-Light Vision Low-light vision allows a character to see at much lower light levels than humans. For a character with low-light vision, a single torch easily illuminates a 100-by-100-foot meeting hall. Starlight provides plenty of light on a clear night, and even on a night shrouded by thick cloud cover the character can see as well as a human sees at dusk. Characters with low-light vision are no more susceptible to flash-blindness than humans. Culture Language The standard language of the Orks is considered to be of average difficulty to read and write, with numerous other dialects being more difficult. It is considered harder than Dwarf (considered the easiest of the higher race languages to read and write), but is considered on par with the complexities of the languages of the Elves, Humans, and Trolls. It is less complex than the languages of the Obsidimen, T'skrang, and the Windlings. Disciplines Orks are known to take on the disciplines of Air Sailor, Archer, Beastmaster, Cavalryman, Elementalist, Illusionist, Nethermancer, Scout, Sky Raider, Swordmaster, Thief, Troubadour,Warrior, Weaponsmith, or Wizard. As such, there is no known disciplines that Orks have not operated as, making them as adaptable as Humans themselves. Category:Earthdawn Universe Category:Creatures Category:Fictional Creatures Category:Sapient Beings Category:Humanoids Category:Unknown Diet Category:Magical Creatures Category:Orcs